The stock for a week in Urdu
In a café they count how much to order for the week in Urdu. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «چائے کا ذخیرہ ختم ہونے لگا ہے، کتنا منگوائیں؟» — The stock of tea is running out — how much to order?; «پچھلے ہفتے ایک تہائی زیادہ گیا تھا۔» — Last week a third more went.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: in a café they count how much to order for the week. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- چائے کا ذخیرہ ختم ہونے لگا ہے، کتنا منگوائیں؟chai ka zakhira khatam hone laga hai, kitna mangaen?The stock of tea is running out — how much to order?
- پچھلے ہفتے ایک تہائی زیادہ گیا تھا۔pichhle hafte ek tehaii ziyada gaya tha.Last week a third more went.
- تو اس بار دگنا منگواؤ، ذرا اضافی۔to is bar dugna mangao, zara izafi.Then this time order twice as much, with a margin.
- دودھ فی عدد بکتا ہے، تھوک میں نہیں۔dudh fi adad bikta hai, thok main nahin.Milk is sold per piece, not wholesale.
- حساب لگاؤ، ہم روز کتنا استعمال کرتے ہیں۔hisab lagao, hum roz kitna istemal karte hain.Count how much we consume in a day.
- اندازے سے پندرہ لیٹر، تک درست نہیں معلوم۔andaze se pandrah litr, tak darust nahin maluum.By guesswork fifteen litres — to the exact figure I do not know.
- سموری تعداد پچھلے سال سے کم رکھو۔samori tadad pichhle sal se kam rkho.Keep the total number less than last year.
- ٹھیک ہے، سب کچھ برابر برابر دنوں میں بانٹ دیں گے۔thik hai, sab kuchh barabar barabar dinon main bant den ge.Good — we shall divide everything equally by the days.
Lines one by one
| Urdu | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| چائے کا ذخیرہ ختم ہونے لگا ہے، کتنا منگوائیں؟ | chai ka zakhira khatam hone laga hai, kitna mangaen? | The stock of tea is running out — how much to order? |
| پچھلے ہفتے ایک تہائی زیادہ گیا تھا۔ | pichhle hafte ek tehaii ziyada gaya tha. | Last week a third more went. |
| تو اس بار دگنا منگواؤ، ذرا اضافی۔ | to is bar dugna mangao, zara izafi. | Then this time order twice as much, with a margin. |
| دودھ فی عدد بکتا ہے، تھوک میں نہیں۔ | dudh fi adad bikta hai, thok main nahin. | Milk is sold per piece, not wholesale. |
| حساب لگاؤ، ہم روز کتنا استعمال کرتے ہیں۔ | hisab lagao, hum roz kitna istemal karte hain. | Count how much we consume in a day. |
| اندازے سے پندرہ لیٹر، تک درست نہیں معلوم۔ | andaze se pandrah litr, tak darust nahin maluum. | By guesswork fifteen litres — to the exact figure I do not know. |
| سموری تعداد پچھلے سال سے کم رکھو۔ | samori tadad pichhle sal se kam rkho. | Keep the total number less than last year. |
| ٹھیک ہے، سب کچھ برابر برابر دنوں میں بانٹ دیں گے۔ | thik hai, sab kuchh barabar barabar dinon main bant den ge. | Good — we shall divide everything equally by the days. |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Urdu in this situation?
“چائے کا ذخیرہ ختم ہونے لگا ہے، کتنا منگوائیں؟” (chai ka zakhira khatam hone laga hai, kitna mangaen?) — The stock of tea is running out — how much to order? The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.